Modeling of the suspension polymerization process using a particle population balance

On the basis of a population balance and the kinetic mechanism of free-radi cal suspension polymerization, a mathematical model of the suspension polym erization process is proposed. The population balance model which describes a mechanism involving the particle size distribution (PSD) in disperse sys tems leads to an integrodifferential equation. The basic numerical approach of this work is to use the finite-difference-differential technique with t he logarithmic scale for particle size. The problem then was reduced to obt aining the numerical solution of a set of nonlinear ordinary differential e quations. The numerical solutions were compared to experimental data, such as the reaction conversion which includes the gel effect and the particle s ize distributions, to yield the model parameters by Marquardt's method. The regression demonstrates reasonably good accuracy.